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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · object · hand · land · bank · clip · chair · straw

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. hand — in cards
  5. object — a thing
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. bank — for money
  11. land — to come down
  12. chair — a leader
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bank — of a river
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — music
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. march — the month
  19. object — an aim
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bank — for money
  22. hand — help
  23. march — the month
  24. chair — a professorship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com